Leader considers future after no confidence vote

The Conservative leader of Sevenoaks District Council, Roddy Hogarth, is to consider his position

The Conservative leader of a Kent council is to consider his position after losing a vote of no confidence.

Sevenoaks District Council's Roddy Hogarth said he would take time to decide his future after the motion by Conservative breakaway movement West Kent Independents (WKI) was carried at a meeting on Thursday.

Hogarth, who was elected in May 2024, was praised by his supporters as a good leader who took an interest in all areas of the district.

But Liberal Democrat opposition leader Alan Leaman, whose group backed the motion, said that the authority was now "almost ungovernable".

The nine-strong WKI left the Tory administration earlier this year after "losing faith" in Hogarth's leadership, claiming he displayed poor communication skills and failed to involve others in decision-making.

The vote - carried 24 to 15 with two abstentions, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service - was described by Hogarth as "very orchestrated".

"I regret very much that the breakaway group decided they had to push this to the extent they did," he said.

"I work cooperatively across all the political divides, and the council is based on consensus and doesn't actually want a lot of disagreeable fights.

"We want business done in the best interests of the residents, and that is what I hope to achieve."

'All this bickering'

WKI councillor Julia Thornton, who tabled the motion of no confidence, said it was "to put the spotlight on the current leadership, because past attempts have failed".

She dismissed talk of "personal vendettas and sour grapes", adding that her group had "tried our hardest to do this behind closed doors, but it was pretty key that we took some action now."

Leaman, of the Lib Dems, said he did not believe the leadership was providing the governance needed for the people of Sevenoaks.

He called for the "very public" Conservative split "to be put right, along with all this bickering".